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2022-02-03 17:58

Eli Lilly and Co is down 2.0% in the stock market after reporting its financial results for the fourth quarter. The pharmaceutical company is headquartered in Indianapolis and operates in 125 countries across all seven continents.

Financial results for Q4
In Q4, Eli Lilly generated over $1.0 billion in revenue from its neutralising antibodies for COVID-19 versus a much lower $691 million expected. The sharp beat helped it deliver remarkable results for the fourth quarter that beat Wall Street estimates. Its COVID-19 therapy, bamlanivimab, has been a primary driver of revenue since November 2020 when the U.S. FDA issued emergency use authorisation for the monoclonal antibodies. The monoclonal antibody, however, was shown to be ineffective against Omicron last month that limited its use significantly.

Net income for the quarter declined from $2.32 billion in previous year’s fourth quarter that translates to $2.32 per share, to $1.73 billion or $1.90 per share. The company was expected to deliver $2.45 in adjusted earnings per share but surpassed the estimate with adjusted EPS for Q4 of $2.49. In the comparable quarter of last year, its per-share earnings adjusted for nonrecurring items were $2.31 instead.
Eli Lilly reported $8.0 billion in revenue for Q4 of 2021, a surge of 7.5%, beating the expected revenue of $7.69 billion as per FactSet Consensus.

Trulicity is one of the best-selling products for Eli Lilly, sales of which, jumped 25.4% to $1.88 billion in the fourth quarter, topping $1.80 billion that analysts had expected. Sales of its rheumatoid arthritis medicine Olumiant, which is often used to help hospitalised COVID patients, increased 59% as Omicron fuelled an increase in new cases.

Guidance for the full year
For the full financial 2022, Eli Lilly expects its adjusted earnings per share in the range of $8.50 to $8.65. This compares to the FactSet consensus of $8.50, as per the earnings press release. On the other hand, revenue for 2022 is expected to be between $27.8 billion to $28.3 billion that roughly meets the analysts’ estimate of $28.01 billion. CEO David Ricks said:

“We have tremendous momentum moving into 2022 and beyond with strong revenue expectations, limited patent exposure, and an exciting pipeline of potential new medicines, which we hope will give us the opportunity to positively impact millions more lives in meaningful ways. Lilly is committed to continuing to innovate as the primary way to create value for patients and shareholders alike.”

Shares of Eli Lilly have had a rough start to the year. The stock is down about 10% year-to-date, but closed 2021 with a 60% gain. The $234 billion giant trades at a PE multiple of 37.32 at present. Last month, CNBC’s Jim Cramer said Lilly was a better pick than Biogen.